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A review by christopherc
Protector by Larry Niven
3.0
Protector was Larry Niven's fourth full-length novel in the Known Space universe, and the last Known Space work written before the series' decline in the mid-1970's. This novel is a tale of how human beings came about, a story made apparent by the arrival of an outsider in human space.
Phssthpok, a member of the Pak species, has travelled for thirty-thousand years to investigate what happened to colonists that set out from his world three million years before. The Pak have two stages of life, a "breeder" stage of limited intelligence, and a "Protector" stage which comes about once they have eaten the root "tree-of-life." Protectors are nearly-immortal, extremely strong individuals who are driven to protect their bloodline at all costs. If a protector has no progeny to protect, he either loses his appetite and dies or manages to feel that the entire Pak species is his family.
Jack Brennan, a miner of the asteroid belt, is the first to meet Phssthpok when he reaches the solar system in the 2130's. Brennan eats the tree-of-life root and becomes a protector, revealing that human beings are the remnant of the Pak colony of three-million years ago, but that colony couldn't produce tree-of-life because of a lack of thallium oxide in the soil. Phssthpok dies and Brennan, having become a monster, disappears. Thus ends the first half of the novel, which originally appeared in 1967 as the novella "The Adults."
The second half of the novel occurs two hundred years later. Roy Truesdale, an inhabitant of Earth, wakes up to find a cassette explaining in his own voice that the last four months of his life have been wiped from his memory. Truesdale sets out with a policewoman from the Belt to explain the mystery of those four months. He meets the man no calling himself the Brennan-monster and agrees to help him destroy the wave of Pak ships which left to follow Phssthpok. The ending is surprising and well-written.
Protector is not the best of the Known Space novels, that honor certainly belongs to Niven's award-winning Ringworld. However, Protector is an entertaining novel and at a mere 200 pages can be swiftly read. It also fills in a gap in the Known Space timeline (the 2300s), which fell between the era of Lucas Garner (Protector, World of Ptaavs, Flatlander, etc) and the arrival of alloplasty on Plateau (A Gift from Earth). Finaly, reading Protector is necessary to understanding the sequels to Protector. If you enjoy the Known Space universe, Protector is a worthy purchase.
Phssthpok, a member of the Pak species, has travelled for thirty-thousand years to investigate what happened to colonists that set out from his world three million years before. The Pak have two stages of life, a "breeder" stage of limited intelligence, and a "Protector" stage which comes about once they have eaten the root "tree-of-life." Protectors are nearly-immortal, extremely strong individuals who are driven to protect their bloodline at all costs. If a protector has no progeny to protect, he either loses his appetite and dies or manages to feel that the entire Pak species is his family.
Jack Brennan, a miner of the asteroid belt, is the first to meet Phssthpok when he reaches the solar system in the 2130's. Brennan eats the tree-of-life root and becomes a protector, revealing that human beings are the remnant of the Pak colony of three-million years ago, but that colony couldn't produce tree-of-life because of a lack of thallium oxide in the soil. Phssthpok dies and Brennan, having become a monster, disappears. Thus ends the first half of the novel, which originally appeared in 1967 as the novella "The Adults."
The second half of the novel occurs two hundred years later. Roy Truesdale, an inhabitant of Earth, wakes up to find a cassette explaining in his own voice that the last four months of his life have been wiped from his memory. Truesdale sets out with a policewoman from the Belt to explain the mystery of those four months. He meets the man no calling himself the Brennan-monster and agrees to help him destroy the wave of Pak ships which left to follow Phssthpok. The ending is surprising and well-written.
Protector is not the best of the Known Space novels, that honor certainly belongs to Niven's award-winning Ringworld. However, Protector is an entertaining novel and at a mere 200 pages can be swiftly read. It also fills in a gap in the Known Space timeline (the 2300s), which fell between the era of Lucas Garner (Protector, World of Ptaavs, Flatlander, etc) and the arrival of alloplasty on Plateau (A Gift from Earth). Finaly, reading Protector is necessary to understanding the sequels to Protector. If you enjoy the Known Space universe, Protector is a worthy purchase.